Beyond the Internship: Grace's Journey

As a Communications major, I felt it was crucial to my education and future career possibilities to obtain first hand experience in my field of study. So, as my sophomore year at Marist College was coming to an end, I began searching for internship positions for the summer. Through a personal connection, I heard that CashmanKatz was looking for interns and immediately took an interest in the company, especially since my area of concentration is Advertisement.?

Since my first day at CashmanKatz, I have felt welcome in the office and treated like a member of the team. Everyone I had the chance to meet was extremely kind and willing to provide assistance to me, if needed. Even with projects I was not a direct part of, I was always given updates on the company’s achievements and successes, making me feel like a true member of this team.?

As previously mentioned, I am a Communications major with a focus in Advertisement, but I also spent one year as a Graphic Design major. Therefore, I was highly interested in the creative aspect of an agency like CK, but I also wanted to gain experience in other areas within advertising. Over the last 13 weeks, I have been interning at CK and it greatly fulfilled my first internship experience. I worked primarily with the creative team here, and could not have asked for a better experience with this team. I was always assigned work that mattered to the company, or team member I was working with that day. Additionally, I was provided with clear direction and positive feedback with nearly everything I worked on, to know exactly where I can be improving my skills.?

I recently became a Communications major, so I still have a lot to learn in my area of study; however, being at CK this summer has greatly assisted me in getting a headstart in this field, and guiding me in determining what I want to do in the future. By observing proposal presentations, production meetings, and the work that some of the team has to do daily, I have gained significant knowledge about this industry and it has heightened my interest in this field. Being able to work directly with the creative team, I feel this absolutely improved my skills, as well as provided me with new abilities. During my time at CK, I have been tasked with various kinds of work, including designing numerous ideas for a product, writing scripts for commercials, researching and organizing information, and much more.?

My experience with CK has gone beyond my expectations I had at the start of this summer, and I owe it primarily to the wonderful team here. CK is a positive work environment that celebrates creativity and encourages improvement. I am walking away with much more knowledge and skills than I came in with, and I am extremely grateful for that, as well as this opportunity with CK!